Black Locust
by Lou P.F
Summary: What if the Gorg were late? What if it caused a thunder storm to hit Earth? What if Tip and Oh still crashed, but without the threat of the Gorg looming over their heads? In addition: alternate ending, I'm Still Blue.
1. Chapter 1

When Tip woke up, it was to thunder and storm. And, well, a quite desperate, yellow Boov in the driver's seat. "What's going on?" Tip asked, immediately awake and alert. It was clearly morning, but up in the sky it was dark and hard to see out of the windows.

"A storm," Oh answered. He was hyperventilating, and his voice was strained and tired, as if he'd been awake the whole night. Considering the fact that the drizzle had turned into a full-blown _tornado_ –it felt like that, at least, with them being in the middle of the whole thing- it wasn't a far-fetched thought. "We were to losing Grape Escape hours ago," he forced out through clenched teeth as he spun the wheel desperately to avoid… was that a rock?

Panic spiked through Tip and she jumped into the front seat. They'd lost Grape Escape, Oh seemed to have been driving for a while without getting out of the storm, there was probably no service up here, it being in the clouds and all, and flying above said clouds was probably not safe. Oh was smart, if it were safe, he would've already done it. "How long has it been going on!?"

"Hours," Oh bit out. The yellow color on his skin was gradually becoming paler and paler by the minute, but Tip didn't think that he was feeling less scared.

"Why didn't you wake me up!?"

"I was not wanting to worrying you," came his answer, and Tip chose not to comment.

"Can we do something at all?" she asked, calming a little down now. "Should I take the wheel?"

Before Oh could answer, something hit the car and he gave a small, muffled cry. He seemed to have even more problems controlling now. Tip climbed over to the backseat and looked out of the window, trying to locate why. What she saw caused her to give a shrill gasp. "We've lost Tangerine Twist!" she called, and Oh whimpered.

"If we lose Busta Lime I cannot control!" He all but yelled the words as he desperately tried to keep the Slushious flying in a more or less straight line. It didn't work, but instead of turning more yellow, his skin paled further.

Tip jumped back into the front seat and fought the urge to scream when another object hit the car. _There goes Busta Lime, we're doomed!_

Oh's skin turned white and he fainted. "Oh!" Tip cried, but to no vain- he couldn't hear her. As the car begun its journey towards the ground, Tip reached across the seats and fastened Oh's seatbelt. She barely had the time to fasten her own before the Slushious crashed into the ground, spun around, hit a rock and then stopped.

She took a moment to breathe. She survived. She must have been the first human ever to survive a car falling from the sky. She was probably the first human to fall from the sky in a car, too. A nervous laughter bubbled out of her as she realized that they wouldn't be able to save the Slushious- Oh was unconscious and there was no way in hell that she would walk outside in a storm. At least inside of the car, she was safe.

But what about mom? Now she would never make it to Australia- out of what she saw they'd crashed on one of the things floating in the air! Without a very, very long ladder, they wouldn't even make it down from here! What was she going to do? Tip began hyperventilating.

Pig meowed loudly and pawed at Oh's arm, which caused Tip to calm down a little. "Oh no," she whispered and unfastened Oh's seatbelt. One step at a time, Tip, one step at a time, you can care about mom later, Oh needs your attention now-

With some trouble, Tip managed to dump Oh into the backseat. There she hurried to check if he was breathing –he was- and was about to check his pulse when she realized that for all she knew, he didn't have one. She sat back on her heels and focused on taking deep breaths. "He's not dead," Tip whispered to herself. "He's not dead, Tip, he's not dead, he's breathing, he's not dead."

Tip sat beside Oh for a few minutes before anything happened. She didn't notice it right away, since the change came so gradually, but his skin was slowly getting back its purple color. It immediately filled her with relief and hope, but she told herself sternly that she still didn't know what had happened. It could be more dangerous than she thought.

Around an hour after he fainted, Oh blinked, revealing cloudy, blue eyes. "Oh!" Tip cried. She wanted to throw her arms around him but restrained herself. Maybe touching him right now wasn't exactly the best idea. "Are you okay?"

Oh blinked a few times before the haze in his gaze lightened. "Yes, I am thinking so," he croaked out.

Tip helped him sit up. "What happened?" she asked. She had to know- if she didn't she couldn't stop it from happening again.

"When Boov feels for long times," Oh said and took the bottle of water she gave him. "It is too much of color pigmenting in the veins. It is causing us to fainting."

"So it's like, if too much blood rushes to the head of a human?" Tip was about to ask if it was dangerous now, after it had happened, but before she could Oh answered her first question.

"Probably," Oh shrugged. Then he lit up. "Look," he said happily. "The storm is over!" His face scrunched up in confusion. "But we are standing still…" Now his face fell. "The Slushious, it is being broken?"

Tip nodded silently. "Do you think you could fix it?" she asked hopefully.

Oh thought about it for a short while. "What does I have to working with?" He turned around and looked out of the window.

"We crashed on one of these floating islands, I think. There's no buildings nearby."

Oh frowned and opened the door. "I am to seeing what I can do," he told her. "But I cannot be giving promises."

Tip followed him out of the door and looked around. "Will you be okay on your own?" she asked.

"What does you mean?"

"I'm thinking about seeing if I can find any food," Tip explained and took Pig in her arms. "Will you be okay on your own?"

"Yes," Oh said. "Good lucky!" He walked around the car to inspect the slush machines they'd been using as fuel. He said something in a different language, and Tip could've bet money on that it was a swear word in Boovspeak.

"Come on, Pig," she said to the cat. "Let's go hunting." He meowed mournfully, as if he liked the idea of staying in the car better than going out into the forest, but Tip ignored him. No way was she walking alone.

One and a half hour later Tip returned to the crash place. In her arms, she held different berries, some fruits, mushrooms that she could recognize, and some plants she was fairly sure were safe to eat.

The car was a mess. There was oil on the grass, and both small and large mechanical parts were scattered across the place. Tip didn't know much about cars, she was just a thirteen year old girl without any interest for the vehicles after all, but she was fairly sure that that was the motor laying in front of her feet. "Oh, I really hope you know what you're doing," she muttered quietly and walked over to the car. Oh's legs were sticking out of where the motor was supposed to be. "Hey Oh, are you okay?" Tip asked when she got close enough.

Oh started, apparently, and he let out a muffled string of words. "I don't understand what you're saying, Oh," Tip said with a smile. "Are you stuck?" The words seemed positive, but she couldn't be sure. She giggled. "Move this foot if you're stuck," she said and bumped her elbow into one of his feet. He moved the foot and Tip snorted. "Move it again if you want help." The foot begun waving around wildly and Tip had some problems with containing her laughter. The words that came from the car seemed frustrated. "Hold on, Oh, I'll get you out, just wait two seconds."

With that, Tip hurried to put the food into the backseat of the car. As she was about to pull Oh out of the hood, she thought of a better idea and fished her phone out of her pocket. After snapping a photo of Oh's legs sticking comically out of the car, she frowned. The battery was running frighteningly low. It wouldn't live much longer without being charged. She turned it off, put it into her backpack and made a mental note to ask Oh if he could fix a charger in the car.

Tip reached down into the hood and grabbed hold of Oh before hoisting him out of the insides of the car. "You okay?" she asked. "I mean, besides all the grime and… stuff… on your face." In fact, his right cheek was almost completely black because of the dirt, oil and whatnot that was in the hood of a car.

"Yes, thanking you," he said. "Grime?" Tip made a vague gesture towards his face and he touched his cheek. His fingers came back dark. "Oh, not to worry, it will be going away soon."

"If you say so," Tip shrugged. "Do you think you can fix the Slushious?"

Oh sighed. "Yes, but not for a long time, not with lacking the things I am needing."

Tip tried to decipher what he'd said, but she ended up frowning. "Do you mean that it won't be able to fly for long amounts of time?"

"Yes," Oh said.

"Oh, alright then. How long time will it take to fix it?" she asked worriedly. She hoped it wouldn't take that long time, mom was just outside of her reach! So close, yet so far away…

"Days, in least," Oh said. "I will to be fast, Tip, I promising."

"Okay," Tip muttered, taking a step back and looking at the landscape. Forest and trees, bushes and plants surrounded them. Good, that would make fine materials to create shelter for the nights to come. "I'll see to create a lean-to, a fireplace, find a stream and fetch some water, probably get some fore food…" she trailed off and turned 360 degrees. When she faced Oh again, he was staring at her in wonder. "What?"

"How does you know these things?" he asked.

Tip blinked in confusion. "Things about surviving? It's basic knowledge to know how to live here, at least for most people."

Oh opened his mouth as if to reply, but he closed it again, blinked a few times and shook his head. Without another word, he turned around to continue pulling the car apart.

Tip was cradling a wooden bowl between her hands. The wood was warm and inviting, but she wasn't eating the soup-like food she'd made for supper. She was way too busy staring at the stars. Right, so she was actually supposed to go to bed so that she could get up early tomorrow and find more food, gather more wood, fetch more water… but right now, she just wanted to relax in the moment, relax in the starlight with the crackling sound of burning fire and the mechanical clank that came every now and then. Tip blinked when she noticed that the sound of Oh's quiet muttering and the said mechanical clanking was absent.

She looked down and turned her head. Oh was staring at her, his mouth open just a tiny bit and his skin pink. Tip smiled lightly. The color fit him nicely. "Come on," she said and nodded her head. "Come sit with me."

The pink color dimmed somewhat and Tip's smile slipped. What had she said wrong? Pink was a happy color, right? What did it even mean? Oh frowned in confusion and looked over at the car, then at her, then at the car, and then at her again. "But… the car?"

"Relax Oh, my mom won't go anywhere if you take a ten minute long break." Oh carefully put the piece of car he was holding down on the ground, before walking over to the fire and sitting down next to her.

Tip tipped her head backwards and looked at the stars again. "Your name," she said. "What does it mean?"

The starry night sky was filling her vision, so she wasn't able to see Oh's face when he answered. "I cannot remembering my name."

"What? But your name's Oh," Tip said and looked at him in confusion. He had picked up a twig from the ground; it was a few inches long, and had small thorns spread across the bark. He was fingering with it nervously. "I-," He opened his mouth and closed it again, frowning and turning light blue. "I was not being born like Oh."

"You mean that you were given another name?"

"I- yes."

"How could you forget it?" Tip wondered and plucked the twig from his fingers, snapping it in two and giving him one of the pieces. Oh gave her a puzzled look but didn't say anything on it.

"Boov are always saying 'oh' when they are seeing me," he tried to explain. "I was calling myself that after a while, and they…"

"They rolled with it?"

"Yes…"

Tip put her part of the twig into her pocket and looked at the sky again. A comfortable silence lasted a few moments before Oh spoke up. "Tip," he said suddenly. "What is it meaning?"

"My name?"

"Yes."

Tip looked at Oh. He wasn't looking at her and she didn't know what to feel. It was almost… too personal to tell him. But it was just… it was just a name, how hard was it supposed to be? They'd had serious talks underneath the stars before. This wasn't different. It wasn't supposed to be different.

But it _was_.

"Light," Tip said. "It means light." Oh turned towards her, and Tip found an embarrassing blush creeping up her cheeks at being caught staring, but she shrugged it off. He smiled. "At least in some cultures. It also means gold, and fair, but-," She took a deep breath to stop her rambling and looked into the fire as the pink color faded onto his skin again. "Light. I like light."

Tip eyed his now pink skin curiously. "What does it mean?"

"What?"

"The pink color," Tip clarified. "What does it mean?"

Oh's skin immediately returned to purple and he looked like someone who'd gotten caught with their hand in the cookie box. "Nothing," he said. Tip raised an eyebrow at him when his skin turned green.

"Tell me," she commanded. Oh swallowed and looked away. The green color faded away. "I won't be mad."

"I am not believing you," Oh said. His skin was still purple, and Tip's heartbeat picked up. What on Earth could pink mean, if he thought it would make her mad? Wasn't it a happy feeling after all?

"Please tell me," she begged.

He swallowed. "Pink, it is- it is-" He stopped, took a deep breath and closed his eyes. It seemed as if he was preparing for war… "It is to loving."

Tip froze on the log. Her heartbeat stopped for a few seconds before it came back, stronger than before. "Platonic, right?" she heard herself ask over the buzzing sound in her ears.

Oh met her gaze. There was a deep, deep sadness in his eyes and she knew the answer even before his skin turned blue. "No," he whispered.

* * *

An: This isn't beta-read, any mistakes are mine.

Yes, in case you're wondering, the Gorg are late -gasp! outrageous-, and it's causing a storm to come ruin the party. Our heroes crash and now shit's going down. Four chapters, plus an alternate ending (which gives us six chapters total).

Please review. I beg you. Please. For the love of God, _please._ It's fine that you follow and favorite and everything, but _please_ , I have no other way to know what you think of this! This fandom is so small, and I keep uploading and everything, but where's my feedback? _Where's my fucking feedback?_ Please! I need it! I don't care if you're shy, or just a hater- just _please leave a comment._ You don't need a user to leave a comment, just scroll down there and press 'review', write your shit and give it to me!


	2. Chapter 2

_He swallowed. "Pink, it is- it is-" He stopped, took a deep breath and closed his eyes. It seemed as if he was preparing for war…? "It is to loving."_

 _Tip froze on the log. Her heartbeat stopped for a few seconds before it came back, stronger than before. "Platonic, right?" she heard herself ask over the buzzing sound in her ears._

 _Oh met her gaze. There was a deep, deep sadness in his eyes and she knew the answer even before his skin turned blue. "No," he whispered._

Tip hummed and turned away from him. He made a choking sound. "Are you- are you not to be saying things?" She didn't answer, and Oh continued by asking "I was thinking you would be hitting on me and yelling again?"

All right, that hurt. Tip turned her face in the opposite direction of Oh and drew her knees up to her chest. A part of her wanted to blame him for not trusting her, but… another part of her knew that it _wasn't_ his fault. It was hers, and no one but her could take the blame. She had done almost nothing in the last few days to show that she actually liked Oh's company.

 _But he's a Boov, I'm not supposed to like him_.

Yes, he was a Boov. But was she just a human? No, of course not.

If he wasn't just a Boov, then what was he?

 _Kind_. That was the word that sprung to her mind, and with a pang, Tip realized that it was true. He hadn't been mean to her. He hadn't been mean to her out of spite, or out of frustration, or confusion. No, Tip could safely say that when faced with a problem, he would take time and listen. Try to understand. The time when he'd tried to run away with the Slushious flashed into her mind, but… it didn't count. It _couldn't_ count. At the time, they had both been selfish and angry with the other for not caring about them. Besides, after Tip got the whole story she had realized that he was frightened, and with good reason! If he were to be caught, he would be _killed_.

And, truth to be told, if she had been in his place, she would have done the same.

Okay, so he was kind. What else? Curious, caring, funny and forgiving were all adjectives that could describe her friend. And, to be honest, at times he could be like a scared little kitten.

But she couldn't blame him for that either.

If it truly was a Boov thing to run away, if it was **in his genes** – _it was it was she knew it was_ -, then of course she couldn't blame him. That would be… racist? Specist? Tip knew how it was not to fit in. She wouldn't wish that on anyone. If Oh ran away sometime, she couldn't blame him anymore than he could blame her for being a pack mammal.

She could be angry, yes, and sad, yes, perhaps even betrayed, but could she blame him? No.

 ** _Then what was he?_**

He was kind, and curious, and caring. He was funny, he was forgiving, and he could be a scared little kitten at times.

But above all, Oh was _lovable_.

"I'm sorry," Tip said. "That you thought I would hurt you. And I'm sorry for all the times I _have_ hurt you, and all the times I _will_ hurt you. I- I have- realized some things about myself- and- and you, I have realized some things about you, too, and- I'm sorry, just- I'm sorry."

There was a pause, but Tip didn't know how Oh had reacted. She couldn't see his face. "And I am sorries, too, Tip," he murmured softly.

"What?" Tip asked, and looked over at him. "Why?"

"For making things awkward." Oh said it in the same way he'd said _'because they are Gorg'_ when Tip had asked ' _why do these Gorg hate you so much?_ ' He said it as if it was obvious, as if it was the truth.

Tip turned around to face him again. Confusion carved lines on her forehead as she frowned. "Do you want things to be awkward?" He shook his head. "Will you act differently after confessing?" He shook his head again. "I won't either," Tip said. "So things won't be awkward unless we force them to. Besides, it's not as if you can decide who you love, right?" Oh shook his head again, and Tip smiled softly. "You see?" she murmured, leaning closer to him and raising her eyebrows. " _I_ can't blame you, so you shouldn't blame you either." She looked up at the sky and felt a sting of panic when she saw that the stars had moved since the last time she saw them, which said a lot about how long they had been talking about this. "Good night, Oh," Tip whispered as she got up.

Without looking back, she walked over to the lean-to and laid down on the moss she'd put on the ground. The barely audible 'good night, Tip' from Oh made her smile as she pulled her blanket over herself.

She promptly fell asleep to the crackling of burning wood and the sound of Oh singing softly.

When Tip woke up, it was to an armful of Boov. She had her arms wrapped around Oh, and he was breathing calmly. Still sleeping, then. It would be so easy to remove her arms from around him, but he was so _warm_ , so soft. She could almost call him calming. He fit so snugly, too, as if they were two puzzle pieces made for the sole purpose of being together. With her arms around him, his back pressed into her front and her legs brought up underneath them, it felt almost as if the world had no dangers. She could've stayed like this forever, if she got the chance.

Wait, what on Earth was she thinking? An embarrassed blush creeped up her cheeks as she pulled her arms back and straightened her legs. How had she even gotten into a position like that? Tip was a light sleeper; Oh would have woken her up if he had moved her, even if it was just her arms. Alas, she must have moved herself; rolled over and grabbed hold of him after both of them fell asleep. Damn, wasn't she the one that had said things wouldn't become awkward?

The grass was dry to her knees as she crawled out of the lean-to. Stretching carefully, Tip sighed in relief as her joints popped. Deciding not to change clothes –she only had dirty ones left, after all, and these were warm- she walked over to the fire. Breakfast would consist of leftovers from supper last night, all she had to do was warm it up and wolf it down. After lighting the fire, Tip went over to the empty skeleton of the Slushious, grabbed a handful of trash and walked back to their camp.

The wooden bowl ended up close to the flames- not so close that it would begin burning, mind you, just close enough so that her soup would heat up. Oh began stirring from beneath the blanket Tip had left over him. He turned around and mumbled something. "Good morning, Oh," Tip called.

"Urmf?" Oh said and sat up. He rubbed at his eyes and blinked owlishly at her. "Morning."

Without further ado, he walked over to the fire. Spotting the trash, he smiled and stuffed some of it into his mouth. "I was thinking that I would clean my clothes, fetch more water, more wood, and more food for me," Tip said, messing in the fire with a wooden stick. "If I finish with that, do you need any help with the car?"

Oh thought about it for a moment. "Do not be taking this wrong, Tip," he said with a small wince, yellow flashing briefly over his skin. "But I do not think that you are knowing enough to do so."

Tip wanted to say her catchphrase –Excuse me? I got an A in geometry!- but thought better of it. "Okay," she said instead. "That's fine. Just tell me if you need help."

Oh nodded and stuffed more trash into his mouth before chewing happily. Tip snorted and turned back to her own food.

One bowl of soup and some light banter with Oh later, and Tip found herself on her way to the stream she had found yesterday. She'd emptied her backpack and put all her dirty clothing in it –Oh didn't have any-, plus she had brought five or six bottles to have water in. On the way, whenever she spotted some sticks, branches or twigs that could burn fairly well, she picked them up and carried them in the crook of her elbow.

Tip dumped her clothes into a calm part of the stream. She lit up when she saw some rocks –around the size of her fist- and went over to pick them up. A flat rock that laid next to the stream was dry enough to sit on, and with that, she went on with her work. She used the rocks almost like she would use soap; her clothes would of course not be as clean as if she had, but they would be clean enough.

Tip found a low-hanging branch that she could hang her clothes over when she finished beating them with the rocks. They would dry there until the time she needed them, Tip decided, and went further up the stream to fill the bottles. When she bent down to fill them, however, she felt something poke her stomach awkwardly.

Puzzled, Tip stood up and dropped the bottles to the ground. She put her hand in her pocket, mindful that the object inside might be dangerous, and closed her fingers around- she pulled her hand out again. A twig. A black locust twig, to be exact. Tip felt light-headed as she stumbled backwards and sat down heavily on a rock.

It was part of the twig Oh had been fiddling with yesterday. The one she had plucked out of his fingers and broken in half. Why had she done that again? The black locust three had hard wood, was long lasting and poisonous to some species. Why had she forcefully taken it from Oh and broken it in two? More importantly, why had she given half back to Oh? Why had she kept the other at all? Tip felt goosebumps spread up her arms. She felt very cold suddenly, even though she was basking in the sun. What was going on?

She twisted the twig and looked at it from another direction. The thorns seemed to taunt her, as if they thought it was hilarious that she couldn't figure this out. She glared angrily at them and chucked the twig into the stream. She regretted it immediately. "Oh no," she whispered.

Kicking of her shoes Tip ran after the twig, jumping on rocks the whole way. "God damnit," she muttered and threw herself into the stream. Fortunately, she'd aimed right, and her feet made connection with hard stone. She nearly toppled over and into the water when she reached out after the twig, the piece of wood floated into her grasp and she exhaled in relief. It was stupid, really, to feel attached to a stick. She very nearly threw it away again, but decided against it. She had one palm and a knee planted on the rock, and that was it.

"Tip?" Oh said. Tip lost her balance and fell into the water with a shriek. A second later, she resurfaced, shocked and soaked. Oh gasped. "Sorries!" he cried and jumped in after her. "I was not meaning to startle you," he said and swam over to her. Tip was almost – _almost_ \- worried for him –the water level was above her waist- but then she remembered that he'd jumped into the Atlantic. And, apparently, had a good time.

"You little," Tip growled playfully and jumped at him. He gave a small shriek and flashed yellow before ducking under. "Where did you go?" Tip turned around just in time for him to splash water into her face. She spluttered incoherently and pushed it out of her eyes. "You pig," she laughed.

"Are you having fun!?" Oh cried, and ducked away again.

"Duh," Tip grinned.

Oh stared at her as if she was crazy, but then his control slipped and he giggled. "Go away!" he laughed, splashing more water in her direction.

"Never!"

They fought, stumbled, splashed and laughed for a while before Tip grabbed hold of Oh and locked her arms around him. "Do you surrender!?" she yelled.

"Yes, yes!" Oh cried, kicking his feet uselessly. "I do!"

Tip let go and pushed him towards the shore. He climbed up, and then he reached a hand out to help her. Without hesitating, Tip grabbed it.

And time seemed to stop for a few moments as she looked up and into his eyes. The sun was shining on him, and water droplets were running down his purple skin. Tip had looked into his eyes before, but this was different. Maybe it was because of the way they lit up with joy from the inside; or maybe it was because in this situation, he had the upper hand; or maybe it was just because Tip _knew_ , now, that he loved her. No matter the reason, her heart ached painfully and she averted her gaze as he pulled her up from the river. Goodness gracious he was strong for his small size.

 _This isn't good._

"What were you to doing?" Oh asked her as he shook his head.

"What?" Tip looked down on her own body and sighed heavily. Wet clothes, wet hair, wet skin, and she had nothing to dry herself with. Unless… She shot a look at the clothes that were hanging over the branch.

"In the river," Oh clarified. "On the rock."

"I was, uh…" Tip regarded the clothing and bit her lip before reaching out and pulling down the green, soft jacket. "Drinking water," she lied. "I didn't want to drink from the bottles since you're going to drink of that water too." The lie rolled easily off her tongue, so why did it leave such a bitter taste? "Do you mind turning away or something while I dry myself? Just for privacy?"

Oh dutifully turned around and walked over to a rock. "Am I to close my eyes?" he yelled over his shoulder.

"You don't have to," Tip answered as she pulled her singlet off.

"I am doing it," Oh replied and Tip rolled her eyes and stepped out of her soaked shorts.

"Of course you are," she said and wriggled her way out of her underwear.

There. She was as naked as the day she was born, standing in the middle of the forest. Oh was sitting ten, fifteen feet away from her with closed eyes. How easy wouldn't it be to tell him to turn around, announce that she was done and watch as he stared at her, at the water causing her brown skin to shine in the sun? Too easy. Tip grimaced and began drying herself with the jacket. What was she thinking? She couldn't use him like that. What was wrong with her? She blushed and pulled on new, dry clothes, subtly slipping the twig from one pocket to another.

"All done," she said with fake cheerfulness. Oh turned around – _so trusting, he shouldn't_ \- and smiled at her.

They began walking back towards their camp. "My tunic is cleanness now," Oh stated "That is a bonus."

Tip didn't answer, instead she looked away in shame. Her hand sneaked itself into her pocket, and her fingers brushed against the sharp thorns. "The twig," she said absentmindedly.

"What?"

"The one I snapped in two yesterday," Tip continued. "Do you still have it? The black locust?"

Oh opened the round pocket in the front of his tunic. "This one?" he asked and unfurled his fingers.

Tip inhaled sharply. "Yes," she breathed, placing a hand to her chest. "Yes, that one." She looked away and tried to calm her racing heart.

"Why do you wanting to know?" Oh said and closed his pocket again.

"Uh." Yeah, why _did_ she want to know? _It's just a piece of wood, Tip, just a_ _ **twig**_. But somehow, it felt like it was something much, much more. "No reason," she muttered, stuffing her hands in her pockets, pressing the pad on her thumb into one of the thorns. "No reason."

"How's the car going?" Tip asked that night at dinner.

Oh looked up from his 'food' and smiled. "Oh, it is going greatness! I am thinking that I am half the way!"

"That's great!" Tip said. She looked down into her food again, frowning lightly. "Are you- are you mad at me? Since I can't help you fix the car?"

"What? No!" Oh placed his 'food' down at his side and inched closer to her. "Are you mad at me, for not knowing the humanspersons customs?"

"Of course not, Oh, you're a Boov."

"Then why should I being mad at you, for being humanspersons?" Oh asked rhetorically.

Tip looked at him sharply. "Are you saying humans are stupid?"

"No!" Oh cried, backpedaling as fast as he could. "No, no! Humanspersons do not knowing Boov technology, is what I am saying!"

"Ooooh," Tip said, and readjusted her position so she was facing the sunset again. Oh moved next to her, no doubt readjusting his own position. "That explains." They sat in a comfortable silence for a while, watching the sun disappear over the horizon.

The first stars appeared on the sky, and Tip said, "Oh, tell me about the story of the Boov."

The only friendly Boov she'd ever met turned around to stare at her in surprise, before a wide grin stretched across his face. His eyes were shining brightly when he answered. "I would be happiness to."


	3. Chapter 3

Tip opened her eyes the next morning, and closed them again immediately. Mentally, she groaned. She'd sworn this wouldn't get awkward. She'd sworn she wouldn't make this awkward, but her sleeping attics were making this task _really hard for her_.

And she couldn't just pull away either, her left arm was stuck underneath the Boov. It wasn't that he was too heavy, surprisingly enough, and her hand hadn't fallen asleep just yet, but it would be impossible to move without waking him up. "Perfect," Tip muttered quietly, moving a bit around and trying to free her arm. The only thing it was good for was digging that damn twig into her stomach. "Just perfect."

She couldn't do anything about this, and the warmth of sleep was inviting her back to its bed. Could it hurt anyone if she slept, just a little longer? Her eyes slipped closed without her agreeing to the action, and soon she was sleeping again.

Tip woke up by a gentle poke in her shoulder and Oh muttering her name. "Tip," he said. "Tip, waking up."

"Uh-?"

"I am stuck," he whispered. He sounded ashamed, as if it was his fault that Tip had him in a death-grip. She cursed herself mentally.

"Sorry," she said and pulled her right arm back to her side quickly. Too quickly, she gave the impression of being burned on his skin. Oh rolled away from her.

Tip suddenly felt very cold. She hadn't realized just how comforting it was to have Oh pressed up against her, and now it felt as if a part of her was missing. There was a dull emptiness in her chest, and Tip fought the urge to reach out, pull Oh back into her embrace and cuddle with him for the rest of eternity.

Oh hesitated before he got up, and Tip withdrew her gaze quickly. She was staring again.

"Sleep well?" she asked. An excuse to make this less awkward was a welcome one.

Oh nodded. "Yes, much better than before!"

Tip flushed and turned away from him to hide it. She desperately patted her cheeks and willed the color to dim before she got up and trotted over to the fireplace. She lit it up, but didn't feel like she could cook nor warm anything. Improvising, she grabbed a fruit and ate it. It tasted like rubbish. Like sand.

Oh, just as happy as ever, was chomping down on his food for the day; an emptied box of red beans.

"And you?" Oh asked suddenly.

"What?"

"Did you sleeping well?" Oh clarified and looked up from what he was reading on the box.

Tip smiled lightly to him and faced the fire. "Yeah," she said. "I guess I did."

* * *

After searching through the trunk of the car –Oh hadn't used anything from there- Tip was overjoyed by discovering her old sketching book. When digging through her backpack she'd found a forgotten pencil and a pencil sharpener. She had no rubbers, but that was okay. Some mistakes didn't matter when she only wanted to pass the time.

So, with the book on her knees and sharp pencil in hand, Tip sat down below a tree and begun sketching. She sketched the Slushious as she remembered it (she wasn't sure she'd ever see it like that again); she sketched the Slushious like it was now, an empty skeleton; she sketched the birds that were flying around; she sketched the trees; she sketched the lean-to; she sketched the fire… and she sketched _Oh_.

There was a fear deep in her heart that he would leave her, that after they'd found her mom he would go away, disappear into the void. Her phone didn't have enough power to take any more pictures, though. Her solution? Draw him. She drew him from her imagination –standing on a rock in the stream with water running down his skin, sitting by the fire, reading a book, with a flower crown around his head and so many more- and by eye. In one drawing he was frowning at a piece of metal, in another one he was standing with half his body inside of the car, pushing and prodding stuff around, and in yet another one he was doing his happy dance.

She was drawing details on the flower crown when a sound startled her into looking up. Oh was standing there, right in front of her. "O-Oh!" she said, hastily covering up the drawing. "You scared me!"

He was smiling. "You are good," he said. "At to drawing."

He'd seen the drawing. He'd seen her draw him with a flower crown, smiling widely in the sun with a spark in his eyes. "Thanks," Tip muttered and blushed awkwardly, closing the sketching book and placing it on the ground next to her.

"Is this normal for humanspersons?" Oh asked and sat down in front of her.

Tip pulled some grass out of the ground and tore it to pieces. "What do you mean?"

"Your face," Oh said. "It keeps getting darker. I was under the impressions that humanspersons do not do changing colors?"

Tip blushed even harder. "We, uh, we don't," she muttered and looked away. "But yeah, it's, it's normal for humans to blush."

"Blush?" Oh said. "I do not know that word."

"Uh," Tip said. The color in her cheeks was slowly fading away. "Well, it's like this- When humans are embarrassed, our blood rushes to our face…" She trailed off. She'd intended for it to be a longer explanation, but found that she didn't know anything else she could say.

"Why?"

Tip blinked. "I don't know," she said and frowned. "I don't think anyone knows."

"So…" Oh trailed off, trying to understand what she was saying. "You are embarrassed?"

"Yeah, I guess so." Tip looked away awkwardly and failed to see Oh frowning at her.

"Why?"

"I-" She broke herself off and looked into her lap. She folded her hands. "Oh, I think I'm in love with you."

Oh froze. The reaction Tip expected never came; instead, he turned a light blue color and shook his head. "You do not have to lying," he said. "Just because I were telling you the truth."

"I'm not lying, Oh!" Tip replied, finally looking at him. "I promise you, I'm not lying! I realized it yesterday; I'm in love with you!"

"I am not to believe you," Oh said stubbornly and crossed his arms, skin still blue, eyes still sad. "How could you be loving me?"

"You want proof?" Tip asked, and moved so she could sit on her knees. "You want proof? Fine! Fine!" Without waiting for his reply, she lunged forwards and pressed her lips to his in a silent, desperate movement.

It felt right. That was all she could describe it as; right. Yes, the kiss was clumsy and hard and rough, but the connection of skin-to-skin was still… _right_.

She moved back before she actually wanted to, and found that Oh was staring at her with wide eyes and pink skin. An orange stripe carefully pulsed over his skin. "Really?" he whispered. Tip kissed him again. It was less rough this time, a bit more soft at the edges.

A few more orange stripes broke loose across Oh's skin and he let out a whoop.

Ah, yes. There it was- the expected reaction.

Oh ran around for a bit, all while whooping and looking like Christmas candy, before he all but threw himself at her. Tip laughed and did the best she could to grab hold of him, but they ended up toppling over and fell to the ground. Oh kissed her happily, and Tip kissed back.

"Really?" he asked again.

"Really," Tip answered.

"It will not be happy relationship," Oh warned her and sat up, brushing some dirt off his tunic. He was still smiling. Smiling, but serious.

"I know," Tip said.

"You will be hated by Boov," Oh continued, and helped her up.

"I know," Tip repeated.

"Sure?"

"Oh for God's sake, Oh, I don't care about that! I'm sure. I'm very sure."

Oh tackled her in another hug and Tip smiled before returning the embrace, nuzzling the side of his face happily.

* * *

When Tip opened her eyes, it was to an armful of Boov, and this time she held on tighter. "Good morning, Tip," Oh whispered, and Tip smiled into the fresh air.

"Good morning, Oh," she whispered back.

How could she have ever lived without this? How could she have been living without this feeling of safety, this feeling of belonging? It was unbelievable, honestly. She didn't want to ever let go, and why on Earth had she been pushing him away last night? And the night before that, too? How long exactly had she been in love with him without realizing?

Had it been love at first sight?

No, it couldn't be… she'd been so mean to him in the beginning, you aren't that mean to people you love, consciously or not. Then when? It had taken a day, a night and then half a day more to get to Paris after they met. Had she fallen for him then? Yes, she must have, sometime during the time he stopped his message.

 _"_ _No matter," Smek said. "Boov technology is far too complicated for a simple humansgirl to figure out!" The Boov laughed._

 _All expect Oh, who, without hesitating, had grabbed hold of the nearest object and had seemed to steel himself._

 _Tip didn't think too much about it, she just raised her eyebrows in mock-hurt. "Excuse me? I got an_ _ **A**_ _in Geometry!"_

He'd trusted her. How hadn't she realized that until now? This was _days_ later! Without hesitating, he'd gone to hold the nearest object. He had believed her word above his Captain's. He had _known_ , the moment Smek said it, that Tip was smart enough to figure it out.

It wasn't that hard, honestly.

 _"_ _I can't hold you! You weigh like a thousand pounds!"_

 _"_ _Let go!"_

 _Tip's eyebrows shot up in shock. "What!?"_

 _"_ _Trust me."_

 _Tip closed her eyes and let go._

That had been a bit more obvious than his trusting her, but she'd trusted him right back.

Was that it? Or had she fallen when Oh hugged her for the first time?

 _"_ _Thank you, thank you, thank you!"_

Maybe. Or was it when she grabbed his hand? When they'd barely survived the fall of the Eifel Tower?

She didn't know. How on Earth could she have been in denial the whole time? She couldn't have fallen for him one of the last three days, although she'd definitely fallen _harder_.

"I love you," she murmured softly, probably too softly for him to hear, but his skin turned pin nonetheless.

"Fixing the car?" he said carefully, although it sounded as if he was regretting saying it.

Tip growled something but rolled away from him. The emptiness overwhelmed her for a moment. Surely, she couldn't be the only one feeling it? But it didn't appear as if Oh took any notice of it, he only turned around to smile at her before he began walking over to the Slushious. "I am thinking it will be finished soon," he called over his shoulder.

"Really?" Tip lit up considerably and followed him. She wasn't hungry.

"Yes," Oh answered. "Be giving me one hour, yes?"

"Alright," Tip said and went over to the lean-to to pick up the blanket, her sketching book, the pencil, a half-full bottle of water, and- "Oh," she breathed.

The twigs were laying there. Oh must've searched through her pockets while she was sleeping –sneaky little bastard- to find her twig, and she quickly patted herself down to check. No. It wasn't there.

He'd taken some thin wire and bound it around the two twigs, braiding it into an intricate pattern. From some distance, it looked like a part of the wood.

Tip picked up her part of the two necklaces and studied it for a few seconds. It was beautiful. She fastened it around her neck and marveled at how well it fit her for a moment, before her gaze fell onto her sketching book. Had he-?

Tip's hands were shaking as she flipped through it until she found the first page of her drawings of Oh. She looked behind her, but her friend –boyfriend?- was still busy with the car, ignoring her completely. There were written small comments and ideas about every drawing of him.

 _This one is greatness_

 _I am loving the details on the flowers!_

 _Found my favorite_

 _Nevermind, this one is the better_

 _Do I do this often?_

 _Is that how I am looking when going JoX?_

 _I love you_

His handwriting was a neat cursive, but it held an almost childish and unsure touch to it. It reminded Tip that English wasn't his first language, and it probably wasn't even his second. Some of her annoyance about his speech patterns melted away.

She flipped the page even though she knew there were no more drawings.

Except… there was.

And they were of her. She was bathing in starlight, she was sitting in front of the fire, she had a flower crown that was matching his, she was laughing, she was looking confused, she was dancing-

Tip begun flipping through the pages faster and faster and saw more and more drawings of her. Gorgeous, mother-of-god-these-are-great drawings of her. Her vision became blurry as tears filled her eyes.

In every drawing that was not from his memory, she was wearing the necklace or holding the twig. "God," she whispered. In some of them, she was pictured as a goddess. In others, she was pictured like a rocking star, or famous, in some adult, in some with children.

He had filled all the pages except for the two last ones.

Tip picked up her pencil. She looked at the last drawing Oh'd sketched, a drawing of her standing in a loose dress in a flower field, looking shyly over her shoulder.

 _Is this how beautiful you think I am?_ she wrote above the drawing.

Her hands were still shivering when she closed the book and pressed it to her chest in a desperate plea. _Let him stay._

 _Please._

As if nothing had happened, Tip packed everything down into her backpack again.

Suddenly, Oh gasped. "Tip," he said. His voice was shaking and his skin was slowly turning yellow.

Tip turned around, concerned about the tone in his voice. "Yeah?" She walked over to him, ready to assist if he needed help.

"Boov officers," Oh whispered, tugging at her sleeve.

Tip looked up, only to discover that he was right. The sky was swarming of them! They were everywhere, in their little bubble thingies, going as fast as they could and looking considerably nervous. "Are they after us?"

Oh exhaled and his nostril things unfurled. "No," he whispered, taking a step back. "They are running away!"

"Why are they running away?" Tip asked, turning towards him with wide eyes. She hurried to put on her backpack in case they had to run fast.

"There can only be one reason," Oh answered. "Gorg."

Tip's blood froze to ice just as dark ships fell into the sky everywhere above them. "Oh no," she muttered. "Mom."

"The Slushious," Oh said and ran towards it. Tip threw herself into the car, into the driver's seat, while Oh jumped in behind her. Without thinking, Tip handed her backpack to Oh before she began operating the car.

She was still not thinking, she was acting purely on instinct as she pushed the car to its limits. It couldn't go any faster now, and Tip locked it like that before turning back to Oh. His skin was pulsing with all the colors he _could_ pulse with, and his eyes were screwed shut. Tip frowned in worry. "Oh, are you okay?"

"No," he groaned.

"What's wrong?" she asked, ready to help him as much as she could.

"Pack instinct," he choked, knuckles going pale as he tightened his grip on the seatbelt. "Telling me to running away."

"Oh god," Tip whispered. "Oh no." Oh fished a Boovphone out of his pocket without replying, tapped some on it –all while looking like the rainbow itself- and then threw it at her. "Oh, what's this?"

There was a blinking red dot on the screen, and some weird grey things, and a blue dot somewhere else. "M- Mymom," Oh said. He begun twisting in his seat. "Red dot. In the case- that I am giving- ih- in-!" He tightened his hold on the seatbelt.

"Do you mean-?"

He nodded stiffly.

No! He couldn't leave her, not now! The last four days had been so happy, so great, they had each other then, he couldn't leave her after showing her how good it could be!

But it was clearly painful for him- Tip was biting her lip and throwing glances out of the front window as they approached Australia. As they approached mom.

 _If you love me, let me go_

Selfish or selfless?

"Oh, you must go if you need to!" Tip bit out, reaching out and taking his hand in hers. Selfless it is.

"No," he said, almost breaking her hand as he launched onto it. "Not leaving-!"

"It's hurting you, Oh!" Tip cried. It was, she realized. He was _that_ close to screaming in pain. She couldn't keep him, for all she knew he might as well die, or faint again, or never recover, or- or _something!_ "You have to go, you can't deny what you are!"

Oh's gorgeous blue eyes met hers, and she watched as they filled with tears. There was a question in them, a question if this was truly okay, if she would still love him, if she would be angry with him- she answered the question by pressing their lips fiercely together. When had she climbed into the backseat? She didn't know. She didn't care. "Go," she growled when she pulled back.

Oh was almost hyperventilating and the colors were going faster now, his hands clutching harder at whatever they found nearby, his teeth biting the inside of his cheeks. He met her gaze and held it for a few seconds, and then-

he nodded.

Tip hurried into the front to land the car. The moment the wheels hit the ground, Oh threw his door open and all but fell out.

Tip jumped out after him, expecting him to run away as fast as his six legs could carry him, which was why his embrace surprised her. Nevertheless, she sunk to her knees and hugged back as tight as she could. "I love you," she whispered. "I love you."

"I love you too, Tip," Oh whispered back. "I will returning, I promise." He pressed his lips to her in a sweet, tender kiss-

and then he slipped out of her arms and away, into the crowd.

The coldness, the emptiness returned.

Slowly, empty, void for emotion, Tip got up from the asphalt and opened the back door to the car. Alright, she would find mom, and then- then- then what? Live here, in Australia?

One step at a time, Tip, one step at a time.

She crawled into the backseat to find the Boovphone Oh had left. Her backpack was on the floor, closed and turned upside down. The sketching book was lying in the seats, though, and Tip frowned in confusion. Hadn't she placed it in her backpack? Then why-

her heart stopped, and she jumped forward to grab the book. She flipped, hastily, to the last pages, absentmindedly noticing that the two drawings of them with flower crowns were missing. There was a drawing of him there, done in a haste, but so realistic it almost hurt to see him use his hands to form a heart, all while smiling. How on Earth had he been able to do it so quickly? He'd only had around six or seven minutes before Tip turned around to look at him!

The words ' _is this how beautiful you think I am?'_ were scrawled across the paper opposing the drawing.

A single word shone up at her from underneath Oh's legs.

 _Yes._

And Tip cried.

 **An: And I find myself, again, legit begging you people to review. I'm serious. This is going downhill. Do any of you actually** ** _read_** **my stories or what? And if you do,** ** _why don't you review_** **? Do you** ** _like_** **my stories? If you do,** ** _why don't you bloody review?_** **I need feedback, come on guys! Please!**


	4. Chapter 4

"Mom!" Tip yelled as she ran through the streets, pushing some people aside, ducking beneath some arms and running in zigzag to avoid crashing into people. "Don't you dare," she snarled at the Boovphone in her hands. "Don't you fucking dare!"

It was blinking red and a text reading _low battery_ had shown up some minutes ago. Mom was always moving around, it was almost impossible to know where to go without the Boovphone. If it conked out now, she had to rely on her instincts. That was never a good idea, she knew as much, and she picked up her speed. Her lounges where whining in protest and her breath became heavier by the second, but she _had to find mom_ , if not, then-! Then-!

"No!" Tip wheezed and shook the Boovphone as the text begun blinking faster. "No, no, no, no, no!"

The screen went black, and Tip stumbled and fell. She wished that Oh hadn't been in charge of the car keys, if she had had them everything would have been easier. Tears stung in her eyes and she curled up into a ball. _No, I can't sit here, this isn't a good place_.

Slowly, painfully slowly, Tip got up and stumbled over to a bench. She drew her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. _Just breathe. In, out, in, out, deep breaths Tip_.

She sat in silence for a few moments, just focusing on calming her breath. She would find mom. She _would_. It didn't matter that all humans on Earth were here, right now, she would **find her**.

What could she do? The Boovphone was out of power and she had no way to charge it. At all. But wait! She had a cellphone with 34% left! With shaking hands, Tip drew the phone out of her backpack and pressed the 'on' button, impatiently tapping her fingers against her knee.

The phone blinked on, and Tip shuffled through the front pages until she found what she was looking for. Her finger was hovering above the 'call' button when she remembered that _no. Mom's phone is broken and at home_. She had probably gotten a new one, but she wouldn't have the same number.

What now? Tip rested her forehead on her knees and drew a shivering breath. "Miss?" a voice broke in. "Are you okay?"

Tip looked up and into the face of a stranger. "No," she whispered. "I can't find my mom."

A spark of greed lit up the man's eyes, and Tip stiffened. "Poor you," he said with a small smile. "I'll help you find her, come with me." When Tip didn't move, his smile melted away and he bared his teeth. "I said come with me!"

Tip threw herself off the bench and ran. How had she gotten in this position? When on Earth had this gone so bad? Now every stranger, be it man or woman, seemed to be out after her. She knew that it wasn't true, but in her thoughts they were all stealing her away and doing horrible things to her. "Mom!" she yelled in panic, almost choking on tears. "Mom!"

She had a photo on her cellphone. Without thinking, Tip opened it up and zoomed in on her mom's face. She was getting desperate, shoving the picture into people's faces and asking, "seen her? Seen her?"

The answer was always no.

She had 20% left. Tears were blurring her vision and she was nearly stumbling as she tried to find her mom.

She had 15% left, and the tears were streaming down her face now. Some people asked if she needed help but she pushed them away in fright.

Ten percent left. Nine, eight, seven, six, five, four-

" ** _Mom!_** "

There was no answer, and her phone died in her hands. Tip hiccupped and stared at the black screen.

Tip wasn't sure exactly how it happened, but suddenly she found herself being dragged into a side alley with a hand covering her throat and an arm around her body. Her eyes widened in panic and her phone slipped out of her grasp, falling to the ground and breaking. "Now little flower," a rough voice said. It was the man from earlier. "You're all mine."

Tip screamed, but all that came out was a light wheeze as the man tightened his hold around her neck. Tears wet her cheeks and she closed her eyes. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't breathe, and now she was panicking and the man was pressing up against her and _this was not good_.

"Stay still," the man snarled. "And this will go much smoother."

He was going to rape her.

He was going to _rape her,_ and if she survived the encounter she wouldn't be able to recognize his face, he could be from anywhere around the world, and why on earth would the police care about her? She was black, and young, and a girl- how short was her skirt? How much had she been drinking?

Tip, desperately, tried to kick him or step on his foot or something, but he tightened his hold even further and lifted her up from the ground. "Gck-" She lost the feeling in her legs at the same time as her vision became blurry and unfocused. This was it.

"I told you to stay still!"

She was going to die.

She felt dizzy and lightheaded as all the fight went out of her. The world was spinning, and she got tunnel vision after a short while. Tip was going to die.

She couldn't say that she'd died happily, but if there was an afterlife she could, at least, say that she had known love.

Suddenly, the man groaned and let go of her. Tip fell to her knees and gasped, gulping down air and ignoring the pain it caused her. Her vision was still swimming, though, and she fell forwards onto all four, coughing hoarsely.

"What the-?" The man gasped in outrage. "You!"

" ** _Do not,_** " a voice growled. " ** _Touch her_**."

Upon hearing the voice, Tip forced her head to turn, just in time to see the man fall to the ground. A red, blurry shape was pointing something at his fallen form.

… _Oh?_

Just as she lost consciousness, she heard a voice cry "Tip!"

 _No, wait!_ she thought, but it was too late.

* * *

"What happened?" Oh whispered when she woke up. "You have been crying! Where is Mymom?"

Tip took a few deep breaths before she tackled Oh in a hug, sobbing into his shoulder. "Oh," she murmured. "Oh, I thought I was going to die, I thought I'd lost you!"

There was a shocked silence before he hugged back, patting her gently. "Shh," he soothed. "I am here. You are not the dead, Tip, I am here, I am okay, we are okay."

"You came back," Tip whispered.

"I told you," he said, still flaring that pretty pink color. "I would be returning!"

Tip still had tears left, it seemed, and she did nothing to keep them back. "Are you really okay?" she asked quietly, pushing away from the hug to look at him. He was 'the fugitive Boov' after all.

Huh. That was new, the rock on top of the cane thing.

"Yes," he said and nodded in excitement. "The Boov made me into a Captain!"

Tip blinked a few times. "What?" she finally said.

"I saved the ship," Oh explained. "With the twig, it was excellent fuel for Boov mothership." He pulled said twig out of his shirt. "Though I am still having it. I held a speech, and- and Smek was shushing me but Bestfriend Kyle stopped it and then poff! I am Captain." Oh nodded solemnly as if that should explain everything.

Instead of digging more, Tip just shook her head and smiled, before pulling him into another hug. "I missed you," she muttered.

Oh pulled back and searched her face. He frowned in worry. "You have been crying," he said slowly, blue eyes shimmering in the dim light. "Why?"

"The Boovphone didn't have any power left, then that dude tried to get me to follow him, and then I tried to call my mom but realized that no, her phone's broken and then I tried to find her using a picture I have of her, but my phone died without anyone recognizing her, and then that dude came again and tried to rape me but now you're here, so everything's fine, Oh, I'm fine, you're fine, we'll find my mom."

Oh nodded along while she spoke, as if ticking off points on a mental list. When she finished the rant, he smiled reassuringly and grabbed her hand, giving it a small squeeze. "We will resume the findings of Mymom," he said, and raised his eyebrows in a calming gesture.

Tip took a deep breath, closed her eyes and nodded. "Yeah," she agreed. "We will."

* * *

They were much closer now, much closer to the red blinking dot. Tip was holding Oh's hand and pulling him along as she walked as fast as she could before it could be called running. She was smiling now, and suddenly all the strangers were smiling back, and they seemed so much calmer, almost safer.

She had Oh by her side now, his warm hand in hers, and soon there would be a family reunion. The day was shaping up to be a bit better than she thought just minutes ago. The man, curse that dirty fucking pig, laid forgotten in the street, though Oh had scanned him so that they could report him to the government later. Not the human government mind you, they wouldn't do anything, but the Boov government. They had very strict rules about that kind of thing.

"We're almost there!" Tip said down at Oh, who smiled and made a happy noise. She went up on her toes and looked around, trying to get a glimpse of dark hair, or of brown eyes, a familiar face, a scent, a sound-

the crowd split, and there she was. Mom. Tip stopped, and the Boovphone slipped out of her grasp as if it was coated in oil. She breathed hard a few times, just staring with an open mouth. There she _was_. They'd found her, finally, after almost a week of searching and flying around the world.

They'd found her.

The woman froze, as if noticing Tip's gaze on her back, before slowly turning around with disbelief in her eyes. Tip let go of Oh's hand and ran, not for the first nor the last time that day.

Her mom ran, too, and they met halfway in a tight hug.

Tip felt lightheaded again, but this time it wasn't because of someone trying to murder her.

Then mom pulled away, and Tip watched in surprise as she kicked Oh in the face –she winced, had she really done that too?- and tried to push Tip backwards. "No, wait, mom!" she said, finally catching up with the situation and rushing over to Oh to help him up. "This is Oh, he helped me find you. He saved my life!" Tip tried to explain, but she needed more time than this if she was going to tell the whole story. She opened her mouth but cut herself off, turning around to meet Oh's eyes in a silent question. The nod she received was small, almost uncertain, but it was definitely there. "He's my boyfriend…"

Oh promptly turned pink, while mom's eyes went wide in shock. "You love him?" she whispered. Tip nodded without hesitating, and mom turned to Oh.

She smiled softly and took his hand, throwing all of Tip's expectations out of the window. "I don't care what you are if you can make my daughter happy," she said. "Thank you."

Tip saw Oh smile, before mom turned back to her to give her another hug. "Tippy," she whispered. "My beautiful girl!"

Did she really have more tears left? Tip sniffed quietly and blinked hard. Apparently.

She was back with mom now. The journey was over, but still… it felt like it had barely begun. "I've been looking everywhere, mom!" There, she said it. No reason to worry her mom too much, she didn't have to know that she'd almost been killed.

"I was so scared I'd never see you again," mom whispered. There were tears in her eyes, too.

"Mom, I'd never stop looking until I found you," Tip said. She was vaguely aware of Oh muttering something, and then mom hugged her again.

The time of peace was not one to last, however, as a dark shadow was cast upon the land.

"We must demonstrate our affections _later_ ," Oh said, and Tip pulled away to look at him. "Uh, there is still _one_ problem." He turned around to look at the sky.

Tip's eyes widened when she turned her gaze upwards. She'd seen that color and shape before, but not in such dimensions.

Gorg.

"Um, excuse me, what is that?" cried mom, pushing Tip backwards. Tip herself was doing nothing, she was too annoyed at the world. It had been peace for one moment. Just one damn moment, before the Gorg decided to ruin the party.

"That is Gorg mothership. They are here to destroy the planet."

"They're going to destroy the planet!?" mom shrieked in disbelief.

"Yes," Oh replied, casting cautious glances over his shoulder and raising his hands in a calming gesture. "But I haves a plan."

* * *

Tip was mad, and anxious, and frightened out of her wits. Oh had apparently thought her _useless_ , or _defenseless_ , -it didn't matter which, they both hurt- and locked mom and her into the Slushious, before sending it up into the air. She was really confused, too, in all honesty.

But she had to help him. She couldn't just let him do this alone.

He was going to survive this. He had to. "It's not gonna work," she told mom, staring out at the window with narrowed eyes. "They're not gonna see him!" She frowned and thought hard for a moment, before lighting up.

She reached into her backpack and retrieved a gift wrapped in red Christmas paper. "Merry Christmas!" she rushed and pushed it into mom's face.

"Now?" she asked.

"Just open it!"

Mom looked confused, but did as she was told and pulled the red paper off. "Aw, thank you sweetie, but-," Tip reached out and grabbed the mirror, climbing onto the seats and popping her head out of the roof window. "Tip, what're you doing?"

"Distracting the driver," Tip replied, holding up the mirror and trying to catch the sun in its surface. Moments later, the green beam from the spaceship was pointed directly at her. "Yes!" She put the mirror away in favor of pointing and gesturing wildly towards where Oh was running. Why he was running she had no idea, but he'd said something about something that had to be returned. She gestured harder.

She wasn't sure whether it worked or not until the ship gave off green sparks and the captain apparently hit the brakes. "Yes!" she yelled. "It worked! It's working, the ship's stopping!"

There were a few moments where everything seemed to become all right. Tip could even see Oh doing a little happy dance down on the ground.

"It's not gonna work, the ship's not gonna stop in time," mom exclaimed up at her.

It was true. The ship

wouldn't stop

in time.

Tip gasped and dragged her feet onto the roof of the car. _No_.

 ** _No_**.

"Mom, help me with this… _thing_!" she cried, kicking the scannerthing Oh had used. It blinked in offense, or perhaps defense, and the car jumped in the air.

Soon they hit the ground, and Tip threw herself of the roof, stumbling and falling to the ground. "Oh!" she cried. "Oh! Run!"

She heard her mom yell "Tip! Tip, stop!" but she didn't care.

There was dust in her eyes and mouth, making it hard to breathe, and the wind was blowing hard, making it harder to run. But there, close to his own death, she could see him. She could see Oh.

 ** _No_** ** _!_**

It wasn't okay! This wasn't going to happen, not now! It was bad enough when he left her, this was worse, she couldn't watch as he died.

She couldn't!

This wasn't happening. " ** _Oh_** _!_ " She screamed the name at the top of her lounges, pushing as much emotion into it as she could.

Oh turned around and looked at her with wide eyes filled with emotion. She couldn't tell which ones, only that they were swirling around each other in a mad dance. His chest heaved, as if seeing her made it difficult to breathe. He looked down at something in his hands, and then he looked up at her again. His eyes were so soft, almost apologetic, as if he was saying sorry for something.

 _No,_ Tip wanted to scream. _You don't have to be sorry for anything! Oh! No!_

 _I love you_ , he mouthed. The cracks closed up, and the ship stopped.

The ship

hadn't stopped

in time.

 _The ship_

 _hadn't stopped_

 _in time._

"No," Tip whispered, falling to her knees. She couldn't save him. She hadn't been there in time to save him.

There was a rock in front of her, a rock the size of her palm. It must've been the thing that needed to be returned. It had to be. She picked it up and stared at it. Was this all because of a _rock_? How the _fuck_ was a rock more important than Oh's life?

Seriously? She just- she couldn't- what-

Someone touched her shoulder carefully, and Tip looked up. "Mom," she whispered.

She leaped up and threw her arms around her mom's neck, sobbing before she realized it.

Her heart was screaming, her soul was screaming and it almost felt like the twig was burning up against her chest. He couldn't be dead, he just… he just _couldn't_.

He _couldn't_.

But he _was_.

"Shh, Tip," mom whispered, stroking her hair slowly. "Shh…"

"I love him, mom," Tip hiccupped.

"I know, sweetheart, I know."

Tip had problems breathing, it felt like her chest would explode. He was gone. He was gone for good this time. He wouldn't come back to save her, not again. She wouldn't be able to hold him, to kiss him goodnight, wouldn't be able to hear more about the Boov. She couldn't impress him anymore, couldn't play with him in water, couldn't listen to him singing softly in the night, couldn't, couldn't, couldn't-

couldn't _love_ him anymore.

The ship begun to beep loudly, and Tip stood up slowly, turning around and narrowing her eyes. She wasn't sure what she expected, why she turned in the first place, but-

She gasped, because-

perhaps she could love him.

"Oh!" She was at his side in seconds, pulling him close and holding him tighter than ever. He hugged back almost immediately, without hesitating, and Tip could feel his skin warming up with pink. "You scared me so bad!" she cried.

"You were scared?" Oh replied. "I almost made a number three!"

Tip smiled shakily, and pulled him back into a hug.

She could.

She did.

"I love you," she muttered.

"I love you, too."

"I know."

* * *

 **An: And with that, our story comes to an end... or does it? What if Oh was too late to save her?**

 ***gasp* do I sense more chapters? I doooooooooooooooooooooooo**


	5. I'm Still Blue, Alternate ending part 1

**An: bare with me, it's not the same chapter as the last.**

"Mom!" Tip yelled as she ran through the streets, pushing some people aside, ducking beneath some arms and running in zigzag to avoid crashing into people. "Don't you dare," she snarled at the Boovphone in her hands. "Don't you fucking dare!"

It was blinking red and a text reading _low battery_ had shown up some minutes ago. Mom was always moving around, it was almost impossible to know where to go without the Boovphone. If it conked out now, she had to rely on her instincts. That was never a good idea, she knew as much, and she picked up her speed. Her lounges where whining in protest and her breath became heavier by the second, but she _had to find mom_ , if not, then-! Then-!

"No!" Tip wheezed and shook the Boovphone as the text begun blinking faster. "No, no, no, no, no!"

The screen went black, and Tip stumbled and fell. She wished that Oh hadn't been in charge of the car keys, if she had had them everything would have been easier. Tears stung in her eyes and she curled up into a ball. _No, I can't sit here, this isn't a good place_.

Slowly, painfully slowly, Tip got up and stumbled over to a bench. She drew her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. _Just breathe. In, out, in, out, deep breaths Tip_.

She sat in silence for a few moments, just focusing on calming her breath. She would find mom. She _would_. It didn't matter that all humans on Earth were here, right now, she would **find her**.

What could she do? The Boovphone was out of power and she had no way to charge it. At all. But wait! She had a cellphone with 34% left! With shaking hands, Tip drew the phone out of her backpack and pressed the 'on' button, impatiently tapping her fingers against her knee.

The phone blinked on, and Tip shuffled through the front pages until she found what she was looking for. Her finger was hovering above the 'call' button when she remembered that _no. Mom's phone is broken and at home_. She had probably gotten a new one, but she wouldn't have the same number.

What now? Tip rested her forehead on her knees and drew a shivering breath. "Miss?" a voice broke in. "Are you okay?"

Tip looked up and into the face of a stranger. "No," she whispered. "I can't find my mom."

A spark of greed lit up the man's eyes, and Tip stiffened. "Poor you," he said with a small smile. "I'll help you find her, come with me." When Tip didn't move, his smile melted away and he bared his teeth. "I said come with me!"

Tip threw herself off the bench and ran. How had she gotten in this position? When on Earth had this gone so bad? Now every stranger, be it man or woman, seemed to be out after her. She knew that it wasn't true, but in her thoughts they were all stealing her away and doing horrible things to her. "Mom!" she yelled in panic, almost choking on tears. "Mom!"

She had a photo on her cellphone. Without thinking, Tip opened it up and zoomed in on her mom's face. She was getting desperate, shoving the picture into people's faces and asking, "seen her? Seen her?"

The answer was always no.

She had 20% left. Tears were blurring her vision and she was nearly stumbling as she tried to find her mom.

She had 15% left, and the tears were streaming down her face now. Some people asked if she needed help but she pushed them away in fright.

Ten percent left. Nine, eight, seven, six, five, four-

" ** _Mom!_** "

There was no answer, and her phone died in her hands. Tip hiccupped and stared at the black screen.

Tip wasn't sure exactly how it happened, but suddenly she found herself being dragged into a side alley with a hand covering her throat and an arm around her body. Her eyes widened in panic and her phone slipped out of her grasp, falling to the ground and breaking. "Now little flower," a rough voice said. It was the man from earlier. "You're all mine."

Tip screamed, but all that came out was a light wheeze as the man tightened his hold around her neck. Tears wet her cheeks and she closed her eyes. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't breathe, and now she was panicking and the man was pressing up against her and _this was not good_.

"Stay still," the man snarled. "And this will go much smoother."

He was going to rape her.

He was going to _rape her,_ and if she survived the encounter she wouldn't be able to recognize his face, he could be from anywhere around the world, and why on earth would the police care about her? She was black, and young, and a girl- how short was her skirt? How much had she been drinking?

Tip, desperately, tried to kick him or step on his foot or something, but he tightened his hold even further and lifted her up from the ground. "Gck-" She lost the feeling in her legs at the same time as her vision became blurry and unfocused. This was it.

"I told you to stay still!"

She was going to die.

She felt dizzy and lightheaded as all the fight went out of her. The world was spinning, and she got tunnel vision after a short while. Tip was going to die.

She couldn't say that she'd died happily, but if there was an afterlife she could, at least, say that she had known love.

She had known love, and she was loved back-

she'd been happy for four days, and then it was ripped away from her.

Reality slipped away.


	6. I'm Still Blue, Alternate ending part 2

Tip opened her eyes and stared into a white roof. What was- hadn't she died? The phantom feeling of hands on her throat was still fresh, what the-?

"Ooooh, hello sweetheart," a voice cooed, and Tip tried to sit up when she started. Only, her muscles wouldn't listen. She couldn't move anything but her head. So of course, she moved it. There was a woman standing there, right next to her, smiling widely. "Good morning," the woman chirped, picking her up.

Wait, what? Picking her up?

Tip looked down on her hands. They were small, too small, and she gave a startled sound. They were _pale_ , almost white in color.

What the-?

Tip looked up at the woman again, meeting her eyes. The pale woman smiled. "Come to mama," she whispered.

Tip screamed.

* * *

Mary, a young white girl with straight blond hair and green eyes, grew up to the stories of Oh the Boov Captain and Gratuity Tucci, his lover.

Gratuity had been murdered in a side alley just seconds before her love could save her. Oh, burning with rage, had killed the man and set off to save the world from the Gorg. Afterwards, he told their story. He showed the sketching book to the world. He begged the humans to remember Gratuity, to honor her memory.

And then… then he took his own life.

The third person of the story, Lucy Tucci, Gratuity's mom, had disappeared from the surface of Earth. No one knew where she was, and no one could find her. Not even the Boov. The main characters had died before the story even began.

What the world didn't know, though, was that while Gratuity Tucci was dead, Tip was not.

She was careful, read up on everything she could so she had an excuse for knowing so much about Gratuity. When someone said bad things about the black warrior, Tip protected her fiercely. When someone said bad things about the Boov leader, they could expect mud in their backpacks, frogs in their water, homework torn apart and graffiti on their lockers.

No one could pinpoint these happenings to Tip, of course, but everyone knew it was her.

When Mary was thirteen, Tip was twenty-six.

She still loved him, but she'd given up. For all she knew, he was long gone. For all she knew he wasn't, but didn't remember. There were seven billion humans in the world, and even more Boov. If he _was_ back –he wasn't,- and _did_ remember –he didn't-, there was only the smallest of chances that she'd find him.

So she became an artist, a famous singer.

She begged, and prayed, that if he _were_ out there, somewhere, he would take a moment and listen to her songs. Take a moment and look into her eyes.

But she had _never_ thought that it would work.

* * *

 _Dear Mary,_

 _You probably don't know me, and that's alright. I'm not sure if I know you. I think I do. If I_ _ **do**_ _know you, then you know me as well. Probably._

 _I'm sorry, I'm rambling. What I want to tell you is that if this doesn't make any sense to you, forget about it. Forget about me._

 _I'm a Boov. I have blue eyes. Once upon a time, a girl called them gorgeous._

 _I think that you call yourself Tip. Yes, this is well-known knowledge, but I think so nonetheless._

 _I think that you curl your hair out of a reason. I think that you know a lot about_ _ **Gratuity Tucci**_ _._

 _I think you know a lot about_ _ **Oh, the Boov Captain.**_

 _I think that you're drawn towards_ _ **black locust**_ _ **trees**_ _._

 _I think you have a love for_ _ **flower crowns**_ _._

 _You got an A in geometry. Do you remember that?_

 ** _Do you remember, Tip?_**

 _I'm sorry if you have no idea what I'm talking about. Your eyes look so much like hers did. You carry yourself just like she did._

 _Gratuity Tucci doesn't exist anymore, she's long gone._

 _But, perhaps, if I'm lucky, Tip might still be out there._

 _And I think that you're her._

 ** _Rose, lilies, sunflower and rhododendron_** _._

 _-Oh_

* * *

 _Dear Oh,_

 _[Spilled ink]_

 _[Scratched out words]_

 _I call myself Tip._

 _I curl my hair for a reason._

 _I know much more than I should about Gratuity Tucci._

 _I know much more than I should about Oh, the Boov Captain._

 _I'm drawn to Black Locust trees._

 _I have a love for flower crowns._

 _Of course I remember, I've never forgotten one second the look on Smek's face. Or how you trusted me. I never told you how much that meant to me, that you trusted me when no one else did._

 _Gratuity Tucci doesn't exist anymore, but_ _ **I'm here**_ _._

 _I have no idea why, or how, but_ _ **I'm here**_ _._

 _The roses were my favorite. The details were hard to get when I had no references, but in the end, I was proud of them (that's- that's a metaphor for our relationship my God). Of course, the ones you drew in my flower crown were much better (metaphor?)._

 _Please, where are you? When can I meet you again?_

 _Yours,_

 _-Tip._

* * *

Tip was trying to control her breath. What if he didn't show up?

What if it'd been a dream? Or a fake?

No, surely not, only Oh could know these things…

right?

A sound startled her into opening her eyes. Her breath rushed out of her. "Tip?" the Boov in front of her said, slowly.

He didn't look the same, obviously. Neither did she, after all.

But his eyes. The blue, _gorgeous_ eyes were still his. A bit older, yes, but they were still his.

"Oh," she breathed.

"Tip," he said, and now he was breathing fast too. Both of them were standing perfectly still, just meters apart from each other. They were on the hilltop close to Paris, the one where Oh'd apologized for the first time.

So close, yet so far away.

Tip gave a half sob and ran towards him, just as he ran to her.

They met in the middle, Tip sinking down to her knees to meet him in a bone-breaking hug. "Tip," Oh whined. "I thought I'd never see you again, I thought you were gone forever! I thought- I thought I'd _failed you_ , God, I'm so sorry, I was so close but I couldn't reach you in time, if I- if I'd been any faster I would've been able to save you, but-,"

He was speaking normally. God, he was speaking normally, and he was apologizing again and what was he rambling about? Tip felt lightheaded when she pulled back. "Oh," she said. "Do you still love me?"

He broke off mid-word and met her eyes. "Tip," he whispered, shaking his head in disbelief. "I never stopped."

Tip laughed happily and hugged him again. There were tears, but they were happy tears, and Tip was hiccupping and giggling among each other.

"You speak normal now," she said, later, when they were laying in the grass and looking at the sky. "I like it."

"Are you happy with how you look?" Oh asked. Tip tilted her head a few times, first to the right and then to the left.

"I understand that I am not the same person I once was," she said slowly, frowning as she thought about it. "And I have learned to connect this 'me'," –She gestured above her body- "With this life. I- I don't particularly _miss_ being Gratuity Tucci, but- sometimes I wonder what could've been."

There was a pause where Oh squeezed her hand lightly. "If it helps," he said. "I loved the past you-,"

"Gratuity Tucci," Tip shot in.

"What?"

"Gratuity Tucci was 'past me'. Tip is 'now me'."

"I loved Gratuity Tucci, then," Oh corrected himself. Tip closed her eyes, basking in the sound of his voice and the warmth of his body. "But not because of her looks. They were a bonus, of course, and they still are!" he was quick to assure her. "But I didn't fall in love with how she looked. I fell in love with who she was."

"I'm not her anymore," Tip whispered. It was barely audible.

"I didn't fall for Gratuity Tucci only," Oh said. "I fell for Tip, too. And while you're not… exactly the same, your core… it hasn't changed."

"I don't think I understand."

"Think about it like this, then." Oh rolled over to his side, and Tip followed suit, meeting his gaze. "Green is my favorite color. Some people favor a special shade of green, but for me it doesn't matter whether it's this green-," He gestured towards the grass. "This green," He gestured towards his tunic. "Or that green." He pointed at her eyes. "Because to me, they're all green. You may call it pale green, neon green, moss green or whatever, but at their cores, _they're all green_."

"There was a time where I was… sky blue," Oh continued on, never once breaking eye contact. "But over time, the shade changed. I'm not sky blue anymore, I'm... marine blue. I'm not the exact same, but I'm still _blue_."

Tip looked at him for a few seconds, and he stared back, emotionless, unmoving. Then a small smile grazed her lips. "I like blue," Tip whispered, and pressed her lips to his in a soft kiss.

 **An: this time I'm serious! The story has come to an end, and I am surprisingly enough happy with it. Are you? Tell me in a review!**


End file.
